Allan McNish being awarded the British Racing Drivers Club prestigious Gold Star by Derek Warwick.

Double F1 world champion Fernando Alonso and Doug Fehan, competitions manager of Corvette Racing, are also to be honoured

McNish, who enjoyed 14 starts in the Le Mans race since 1997 – winning in 1998, 2008 and 2013 – has been nominated Grand Marshal for next month’s event.

The current world endurance champion, who scored his first Le Mans victory at the wheel of the last Porsche to win the race outright and his final one at the wheel of an Audi in 2013, will be the ambassador for the 82nd running of the prestigious event.

Among his duties, McNish, who retired from racing at the end of last year, will be back behind the wheel driving the lead car, the official vehicle that the rest of the field must follow for the formation lap.

Alonso, double Formula 1 world champion and winner of 32 out of 221 Grand Prix starts, and a Scuderia Ferrari driver since 2010, has been given the honour of starting the race, flagging away the cars as they cross the line at the end of the formation lap.

Alonso, who finished fourth at last week’s Monaco Grand Prix, will be the first driver currently racing to start the classic twice-round-the-clock Le Mans race.

Fehan has run Corvette Racing with a fiery passion since the American giants’ return to the track in 1999, culminating in 92 victories in endurance racing for the successful team.

These include seven Le Mans, 82 American Le Mans Series, one Daytona and two this season in the new Tudor United Sports Car Championship.

Corvette have won 10 manufacturers’ titles and team championships crowns in the American Le Mans Series and nine drivers titles under Fehan’s watch.

Fehan will be presented with the Spirit of Le Mans on the eve of the event by Automobile Club de l’Ouest president Pierre Fillon.

Meanwhile, McNish has been awarded the British Racing Drivers’ Club’s prestigious Gold Star.

The award was presented by Derek Warwick, the last Briton to win the World Sportscar title before McNish, at a British Racing Drivers’ Club lunch in Monte Carlo during last week’s Monaco Grand Prix weekend.

Warwick said: “Allan has been one of our sport’s greatest ambassadors over the years. His grit, determination, professionalism and speed are an inspiration to our young drivers coming through.

“He won the Le Mans 24 Hours for a third time last year and also claimed the FIA World Endurance Championship and it is for these feats that the BRDC has honoured Allan with the Gold Star.”

The Gold Star was first presented in 1929 and is the club’s premier annual honour, with points awarded according to a set formula.

It is also given, in exceptional circumstances, in recognition of a significant achievement in motorsport – in McNish’s case, his success in the WEC.